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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do.  The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University.  She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. 

FLOAT LIKE A LEPIDOPTERA--A monarch floats over milkweed, its host plant, in this image taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Float Like Lepidoptera, Sting Like Hymenoptera?

July 16, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Early in his career, the late heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) drew international headlines when he uttered that remark before his 1964 fight with then champion Sonny Liston.
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The Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, sips nectar on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. The orange spots accent the orange flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gotta Love that Gray Hairstreak

July 15, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Gotta love that Gray Hairstreak. If you don't like putting "gray" and "hair" in the same sentence, not to worry. This is the butterfly, Strymon melinus. When the it's hanging around a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, the orange spots on its tail accent the color of the flower.
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A digger bee, Anthophora urbana in flight, as it heads for another catmint blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

July 13, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ready or not, here I come! "Wait, can you slow down a bit?" I ask. "I can't focus when you move so fast!" No, sorry! I'm in a hurry! Anthophora urbana, a solitary, ground-nesting bee, frequents our garden to forage on the catmint (Nepeta) and lavender (Lavandula).
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A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, depositing an egg on the tendrils of her host plant, Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Caught in the Act of Laying an Egg on Tendrils

July 12, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You know the drill, lay 'em on the tendrils. But Gulf Fritillary butterflies, Agraulis vanillae, don't always lay their eggs on the tendrils of their host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora) although textbooks may indicate that.
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